Nemesis Marathon Challenge

If you have spoken to anyone who rode the 2010 Nemesis Marathon you would know that there weren't a lot of kind things being said about the race. The common theme was that some of the track was just not fun to ride and there was too much walking up hills. Despite knowing this Mel and I decided to take on the 45km challenge held at the Mount Avoca track.
It was an early start as we left Bendigo at 6am to make sure we made rego by 7.45am in time for an 8 am race start so the bikes were loaded the night before. We took the Suby with the bikes on the back of the car and not on the roof to make sure that Mel's bike made it safely to and from the race. It was a chilly morning but luckily the sun had made it out by the time we made it to the Mount Avoca winery which was the start/finish area of the race. I didnt realise it at the time but the fact that I missed the turn off into the parking area was a bit of an omen for my navigating skills for the rest of the day.
The volunteer handed me number 151 and told me it was a Palindrome. I said a what and she told me that's what you call a word or number that reads the same in either direction. I had to look it up on the computer to see how to spell it but there you go, its true what they say, you learn something new everyday.
Despite the brilliant blue sky I must admit it was a bit chilly waiting for the race to start. I only had my jersey and my armies to keep me warm but Mel had her lovely Giant jacket. I told her she would warm up quickly and wouldnt need it but she insisted on wearing it. I think she could have taken it off after a km or two but she kept it on until just before the top of the first climb when she had to admit defeat and stuff it in her backpack.
The first climb was a long one but at a good gradient. It was about 7 kms up a dirt road towards Governor Rock lookout. We kept up a steady pace and held our place on the road until the stop to get rid of Mel's jacket. After reaching the top of the climb the race got a bit more serious. There was a nice down hill run followed by a short uphill and then we entered some more technical down hill sections. It was on this section I managed to place my front wheel into a rut and remove myself from my bike. Steve's new friend from "The Duael" rode past me as I was remounting and then managed to perform a more spectacular dismount about 100m down the track. Luckily that was it for crashes for the day and we had no punctures or mechanicals of any kind (although I did give the powerlink I bought the day before to a guy who had a broken chain).
After a slight detour the wrong way up a road we made it to the first feed station feeling pretty good. I managed to resist the tempting donuts and muffins and had a gel pack instead and we headed off again. This section of trail contained a very tricky downhill (appararently made worse by a group of horse riders who went through the day before). Quite a few people walked this section including Mel and I and you needed the brakes on to keep control of your bike on the loose surface. As the track flattended out we knew that meant that we had to climb back out of the valley we were in. And climb we did, it was hard work and there was a fair bit of walking involved. I think we must have got off and on our bikes a hundred times.
There has been a lot of effort made to build the new single track that switch backs it way up the hill. We crossed the fire road that was used to climb out last year and that thing just goes straight up so full credit to the guys doing the work on the course. Towards the end of the climb we got back on last years fire road which had levelled out a bit and Mel took over the lead and paced me beautifully through to the second feed station at the top of Mount Avoca.  You know you are at the pointy end of the mountains when there is a trig point next to the feed station. The volunteers warned us of another nasty climb ahead that no one rides and reminded us to take care on the descent as they had to get the helicopter in to get one guy out last year.
We had 18kms to go and after some gentle up and down dirt roads it was on to the three sisters and the volunteers werent joiking about no one riding them. The first two were bad and then came the ugly sister and boy was she ugly. It was steep and rough and hard enough to even walk up but we made it in the end passing a guy along the way who had suffered 5 punctures along the track and was forced to walk his 29er all the way to the end.
Next came the descent back to the bottom. Now some descents are flowing and fun like in the Otway Odyssey but this one was almost as challenging as some of the climbing. It was very steep on a rough fire road with water bars every 100 meters or so. At the race briefing they warned us several times that the water bars were not jumps and I can see why. As soon as you were off the brakes you picked up speed at an alarming rate so it was back on the brakes trying your best to the stick to the single track line that had been worn onto the fire road. It was an all over body work out with no sitting down and forearms pumping to keep the brakes engaged. Once again Mel and I survived and made it safely to the bottom and out into the pleasant countryside where we started. After a quick detour onto some more single track we arrived back into the vineyards and the finish line was in site.
I think we made our best decison of the day in the car on the way over when we agreed to ride the race together. There was only 170 riders in 4 different race distances and the field was pretty spread out from early on. It would have only made a tough course much harder if you were riding it in isolation.
It had been a tough ride but the weather had been perfect for riding and the countryside was spectacular which made the event very enjoyable and I am already looking forward to next year's event.

This is the link to the results and photos from the day
http://www.bighillevents.com.au/Avoca/home.html